During various procedures fluids are released, which often fall onto the floor. For example, during a surgical procedure, not only can blood and other body fluids spill onto the floor, some procedures irrigate a surgical site with copious amounts of saline solution, which is then allowed to spill onto the floor.
It is highly desirable to quickly get these fluids away from the surgeon's feet to reduce the risk of slipping. Also, fluids released during surgery can spread infections and this risk is greatly enhanced the longer the surgeon stands or walks in these fluids.
In many surgical procedures some sort of suction device is used in the operating room to address this issue. Frequently, this suction device is used to remove blood as well as other fluids, gases, tissues, and other foreign matter that accumulates on the floor of an operating room during an operation or other procedure. As this fluid accumulation is nearly ubiquitous with surgery, there is a significant need to quickly and easily remove fluids from an operating room floor. Also of consideration is the time to clean the operating rooms between surgeries. The present invention allows quick cleaning of an operating room floor improving turnover times between surgeries.
Because this issue has been present since the advent of surgery, there are a number of solutions in existence that address this problem. However, the existing systems have some significant drawbacks. Previous solutions to this problem include disposable towels, blankets, absorbent pads, and floor aspirators. Today, floor aspirators are the preferred tool for vacuuming fluids from the floor of an operating room, and the prior art teaches several different versions of these aspirators. However, even amongst these options that are in wide-spread use today, a number of problems still exist.
The first and foremost problem is the noise generated by current floor aspirators. While the suction source used by the floor aspirators is invariably loud, the actual attachment that makes contact with the floor acts as a secondary source of noise. In a situation where the instructions of a surgeon or a nurse should be heard, creating potential surgical error, additional noise generated is not beneficial and can be irritating to the operating staff. Further, the existing floor aspirators are almost uniformly circular, which leaves many areas of an operating room that cannot be directly aspirated.
Secondly, many of the floor aspirators don't properly collect fluid that gets spilled on top of the aspirator and as such, there is a need for a device that can quietly and effectively help aspirate fluids landing on top of the device as well as underneath of the device, while also being moved around the floor of the operating room safely.
Specific references to relevant prior art are herein described as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,184 pertains to a method and apparatus for aspirating fluids from a surgical operating room utilizing a suction head that readily slides along the floor in response to translational forces applied by foot by operating room personnel. The suction head has a flat bottom surface with a plurality of narrow flow channels defined therein between a suction port mouth and the surface periphery. Support ribs, disposed on the top surface in juxtaposed alignment with respective flow channels, impart strength to the suction head and prevent sealing of the flow channels. The suction head is adapted to operate with suction sources commonly available in surgical operating rooms operating through a fluid waste collection chamber. The flow channels conduct fluid to be aspirated while preventing the bottom surface from becoming sealed to the floor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,258 pertains to a suction device for removing liquids from a surface such as a floor. The device includes an air chamber formed from a top and a bottom plate, each of the plates having a respective top and bottom surface. The air chamber is in fluid communication with a fitting adjacent thereto. The bottom plate includes a plurality of holes therethrough. The bottom surface of the bottom plate additionally includes fabric adjacent thereto and feet to hold the bottom plate of the device up off the floor to enable fluid to be suctioned through the bottom plate holes and into the chamber via a conventional source of suction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,237 pertains to a system for collecting and disposing of body fluids collected during surgery comprising a canister and a servicing unit for removing the body fluids from the canister and cleaning the canister for re-use. The canister is a vessel having sidewalls, a bottom and a lid. The lid has a first inlet port for the inflow of body fluids into the canister during surgery and a vacuum port for application of vacuum to the canister to induce the inflow of body fluids into the canister. The lid has a second inlet port for the inflow of cleaning fluid into the canister and a spray head in fluid communication with the second inlet port for spraying the cleaning fluid within the canister. The lid also has an outlet port with a suction tube extending into the canister for the outflow of body fluids and cleaning fluid from the canister. Caps are provided for closing those ports when the canister is being used to collect body fluids during surgery. The servicing unit has a first fluid conduit means to conduct fluid from the canister to a drain, and a second fluid conduit means to conduct cleaning fluid from a source of cleaning fluid to the second inlet port of the canister. There are connectors for connecting the first fluid conduit means to the outlet port of the canister and for connecting the second fluid conduit means to the second inlet port of the canister. Means are provided to control the flow of fluids through the fluid conduit means.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,078 pertains to a suction device for removing liquids from a surface such as a floor. The device includes an air chamber formed from a top and a bottom plate, each of the plates having a respective top and bottom surface. The air chamber is in fluid communication with a fitting adjacent thereto. The bottom plate includes a plurality of holes therethrough. The bottom surface of the bottom plate additionally includes fabric adjacent thereto and feet to hold the bottom plate of the device up off the floor to enable fluid to be suctioned through the bottom plate holes and into the chamber via a conventional source of suction. The device is also arranged to be located beneath an area where fluid is escaping for directly receiving and evacuating fluid that would otherwise fall on the floor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,246 pertains to a system for collecting fluids from medical procedures, laboratory testing or industrial processes using a vacuum pad placed on the floor or an appropriate supporting structure adjacent to a potential source of hazardous fluids. The vacuum pad is formed from corrugated panels having a first sheet and a second sheet with a plurality of corrugated ribs to provide fluid flow channels between the first sheet and the second sheet. A manifold is provided as a part of the vacuum pad to supply a relatively uniform amount of vacuum to each fluid flow channel. The vacuum pad and a container for potentially hazardous fluids may be coupled in series by one or more conduits to a vacuum source such as commonly available in surgical operating rooms.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,098 pertains to a method for aspirating waste fluids from the floor of an operating room. A suction head may be placed on the floor and attached to an available negative pressure source. An elongated handle is selectively engageable with the suction head. The suction head can be selectively translated across the floor or lifted and moved to a pool of waste fluid with accuracy by using the handle. While this step is being done, the length of the elongated handle protects against contamination of the operator's limbs by the fluid falling from the surgical table. The handle is easily disengaged from the suction head when the suction head is positioned in a desirable location. The suction head suctions fluid under its bottom surface. Fluid falling on the top surface of the suction head is captured and directed through peripheral holes for aspiration beneath the suction head. Fluid suctioned through the suction head is then deposited safely in a waste collection chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,901,389 pertains to an improved apparatus and method for aspirating liquids from surfaces particularly during medical procedures. Apparatus for removing liquid from a surface in the region of a medical procedure such as an operating room floor responsive to a drawn vacuum of preselected magnitude includes a plenum with an interior volume defined by an elongated box element with a plurality of supports member integral thereto or by an elongated tube, the plenum being perforated so as the exterior of the plenum is in direct liquid communication with the interior of the plenum, an absorptive wicking pad secured to the plenum so as to cover the perforations, an a vacuum conduit tube in direct vacuum communication with a vacuum collection system. A method of removal of liquids standing on surfaces such as operating room floors accomplished by positioning the disposable liquid removal apparatus with the exposed absorptive wicking pad down into the liquid, attaching the apparatus to a vacuum collection system, activating the system, and repositioning the apparatus as required.
United States Patent Publication No.: 2005/197639 pertains to an improved apparatus and method for aspirating liquids from surfaces particularly during medical procedures. Apparatus for removing liquid from a surface in the region of a medical procedure such as an operating room floor responsive to a drawn vacuum of preselected magnitude includes a plenum with an interior volume defined by an elongated box element with a plurality of supports member integral thereto or by an elongated tube, the plenum being perforated so as the exterior of the plenum is in direct liquid communication with the interior of the plenum, an absorptive wicking pad secured to the plenum so as to cover the perforations, an a vacuum conduit tube in direct vacuum communication with a vacuum collection system. A method of removal of liquids standing on surfaces such as operating room floors accomplished by positioning the disposable liquid removal apparatus with the exposed absorptive wicking pad down into the liquid, attaching the apparatus to a vacuum collection system, activating the system, and repositioning the apparatus as required.
United States Patent Publication No.: 2012/0210539 pertains to a repositionable fluid suction device. The device includes a central body and a suction channel located on an underside of the central body extending at least partially around a periphery of the central body. A rim extends downward from the central body, and may define a portion of the suction channel. A fluid collection trough extends at least partially around the periphery of the central body to collect fluids that fall on the upper surface of the central body. The outermost peripheral edge of the suction device may comprise at least one concave portion extending radially inward toward the central body.
Various devices are known in the art. However, their structure and means of operation are substantially different from the present disclosure. The other inventions fail to solve all the problems taught by the present disclosure. The present invention provides floor aspirators that are relatively quiet, safe to maneuver, inexpensive, and superior to the prior art. At least one embodiment of this invention is presented in the drawings below, and will be described in more detail herein.